Bulls of the West makes a triumphant return to the Spur Arena

Eighteen-year-old Cy Ferguson stole the show at the Bulls of the West freestyle bullfighting event Saturday night in front of an appreciative audience at the 1st Community Federal Credit Union Spur Arena.

Twelve competitors from around the world showcased their skills of dodging and juking some of the best Mexican fighting bulls provided by Troy and Lindsey Bradshaw with Penthouse Fighting Bulls, and the top four advanced to the short-go.

Ferguson earned a score of 88 in the finals to pick up the first-place prize.

"This is my first win," said Ferguson, a teenager from Boyd who has competed in about a half-dozen of these events in his young career.

The competitors were rooting each other on during the three-hour event, and all 12 of them were lined up for a meet-and-greet with fans afterwards.

"It's like a brotherhood," the 18-year-old Texan said. "It's fun to be around. They congratulate you and there's a dogpile at the end. It's just something that you don't get to feel all the time."

San Angelo is known for having some of the most-knowledgable rodeo fans in the country, and West Texans have really embraced this freestyle bullfighting event as well.

"Oh man, the energy's great," Ferguson said. "It really fuels the fight and sets the tone for everything. It's real fun and they make it good. I came out and they gave me that extra boost of energy to end on a good note tonight."

He didn't initially know how big of a paycheck that he earned, but it will be a sizable one and he plans to save the money.

Ferguson is following in family footsteps.

"My dad used to bullfight and I kind of grew up in his shadow," the 18-year-old said. "He's starting getting me on this and that's where I'm at."

Like bull riders in regular rodeo events, most people think you have to be a little crazy to do something that's so dangerous as bullfighting.

That's not always the case, however.

"I've actually had a couple buddies join me," Ferguson said. "They're starting to get into it because I got into it. I have a few travel buddies and we just have a good time while we're doing it."

Scoring-wise, half of the points come from the bullfighter and the other half comes from the bulls themselves.

It's different than Spanish-style bullfighting and is more like what rodeo fans see with "rodeo clowns."

After the first 40 seconds of bullfighting, competitors had the option of either stopping at that point and earning whatever score the judges award them, or going an extra 30 seconds to try to increase their score.

The bullfighters also have the option of bringing out the barrel man, as they use the barrel to entice the bovines to get even more ornery.

One of the bulls was extremely ornery, and it took more than a half-hour to get him out of the arena. Spectators at the VIP tables up close to the arena were told to scoot back a little to avoid danger.

In addition to Ferguson, the other three finalists included: Jason Martin of Weatherford; Austin Ashley of Purcell, Oklahoma; and Tucker McWilliams of Oak Grove, Missouri.

Event coordinator Jill Sisk and her family from Sterling City have been putting on this event since 2014. Her father, Bill Halfmann, and her husband, Casey Sisk have helped make this an annual tradition, along with her brother, Jason Halfmann, and his wife, Taylor Halfmann.

After the first four rounds were completed, Jill Sisk and Taylor Halfmann presented Kermit Wendland with an honorary gift for his dedication over the years. Wendland has been involved with this event since its inception, and he's helped out with the San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo since 1971.

This was the seventh year for Bulls of the West to come to San Angelo, and the last time they had it was in 2019. Due to COVID, the event was put on hiatus in 2020 and 2021.

"It gets bigger every year," Jill Sisk said. "It was a phenomenal turnout. We had probably at least 500 people at the VIP tables around the arena, so it was just awesome. We really enjoy it.

"We have sold more tables on the VIP than we ever have because we added (more seats). We're growing every year in the stands, we can tell."

Sisk estimated that just under 1,000 people were in attendance.

If you weren't able to make it this year, Sisk highly encourages fans to give this event a try in 2023.

"Get your ticket and get your VIP table if you want it," Sisk said. "It's obviously an adrenaline rush and you can't beat this. If you like to live life on the edge, this is your thing and we love having it."

This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Bulls of the West returns to to the Spur Arena